Letter to the State Superintendent - Kids learn better if they are not hungry

The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute is one of 24 organizations to sign this letter asking the state Department of Education to embark on a multi-year commitment to provide free breakfast funding for all the schools that qualify.  Also see our "Monday Message" on school breakfast from the 2012 legislative session. The $1.8 million we are requesting for the upcoming budget amounts to 5/1000 of one percent of the state budget.

Dear Superintendent Lowery,

As you develop the FY 2014 Maryland State Department of Education - Aid to Education budget, we respectfully request that you invest an additional $1.8 million to expand the Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) program. We further request that the Department and the Administration make a commitment to providing enough funds to serve the children in all eligible schools by fiscal year 2018.

As you know, MMFA is a national model for increasing access to the National School Breakfast Program, with proven links to improved educational performance, health and behavior....

In the wealthiest state in the country - home to six of the most affluent jurisdictions nationwide - 1 in 6 Maryland households had difficulty affording enough food to feed their family in 2011....


The Maryland public school system has enjoyed the highest or one of the highest national rankings for the past several years. We believe that MMFA is a critical support system that contributes to long term success by ensuring students start the school day ready to learn. In a recent survey, a majority of Maryland teachers saw children who were regularly coming to school hungry, with 65% of teachers reporting that school breakfast was vital to academic achievement, and 71% reporting they had a positive experience with an in-classroom breakfast program. As such, the MMFA program is an incorporation of the best practices in education – providing healthy meals in the classroom to children who are often experiencing hunger.

Currently, 813 Maryland schools are eligible for MMFA, yet only 271 schools are funded at $3,380,000 dollars. To fund the additional 542 schools eligible for MMFA, it would cost an additional $9,120,000 million dollars – bringing the total MMFA budget to $12.5 million. We are requesting a multi-year budget commitment to fully fund the MMFA in all eligible schools over five years, starting with a short-term goal of funding 20% of the unmet need in the FY 2014 budget. This 20% expansion will require a $1.8 million dollar increase in funding in FY 2014. If Maryland increases MMFA funding by $1.8 million, 56,896 additional children will start the day with a nutritious in-classroom breakfast during the 2013-2014 school year.

If we fully fund MMFA over five years, 284,479 more children will benefit from school breakfast by 2018.

In addition, by increasing funding for MMFA, Maryland will benefit from significantly more federal dollars -- for every $1.00 spent on MMFA, $4.55 is received in federal reimbursement from the School Breakfast Program.

We recognize that you must make many difficult decisions as you prepare your FY 2014 budget, and we commend MSDE for its leadership and support for MMFA in Governor O’Malley’s FY 2013 budget. As Interim Superintendent Sadusky testified at MSDE's budget hearing in February 2012, “School breakfast is one key to our academic excellence in Maryland and will continue to play a role in our #1 national ranking.”

MMFA is only part of a statewide investment by community partners to help more eligible children have access to breakfast, but it is an important, proven and cost-effective one. We respectfully request that you make increased funding for the Maryland Meals for Achievement program a top priority.

Thank you for being a champion for Maryland’s children and their families.

 - Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute and 23 other statewide and community organizations